Middleweight: 2014, Jul 7-13

Saturday in Tokyo, fringe contender Akio Shibata got a decision win over high-level journeyman Hikaru Nishida to defend his Japanese title. It was apparently at least a fairly close fight, with one judge having it 7 rounds to 5 at 115-113, another at 116-112, and the third a more comfortable 118-110. As is often the case with Japanese fights, though, no video is apparently available. The best summary of the action I can find is here.

No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)Champ: Miguel Cotto (5-5-5)Last Fight: RTD10 Champ Sergio MartinezNext Fight: UnknownCotto is the Champion. The only question now is whether he will risk that Championship against the dominant #1 contender against whom he probably would have very little chance. His thoughts seem to be more in the direction of Canelo.1) Gennady Golovkin (30-97-160)Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #5 Daniel GealeGolovkin-Geale is official for July 26 in New York.2) Sam Soliman (6-30-30)Last Fight: 5/31/2014- UD12 #2 Felix SturmNext Fight: UnknownHis trainer wants Cotto, but Martin Murray looks more likely. Soliman himself says he wants the winner of Golovkin-Geale.3) Sergio Martinez (5-221-221)Last Fight: 6/7/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #8 JMW Miguel CottoNext Fight: UnknownWhen assessing Maravilla’s viability as a contender at this point, it really comes down to one question: is his base athletic level and chin as bad as his performance against Cotto, or can it be blamed on a knee or other sort of leg injury? If the latter, he might stand some chance to come back given enough recuperation time. If the former, then he’s one of the most obviously finished fighters I’ve ever seen. His manager ominously said after the fight that his only injury was a broken nose. That’s incredible, if true, considering how bad his legs looked. A big soccer fan, he says he’ll determine his future after the World Cup.4) Felix Sturm (5-564-564)Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (UD12) vs. #8 Sam SolimanNext Fight: UnknownSturm passed on an eliminator with Curtis Stevens, right after David Lemieux passed on an eliminator with Sturm. Apparently nobody wants the IBF title.5) Daniel Geale (5-264-264)Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Gennady GolovkinSee Golovkin’s notes, above.6) Martin Murray (3-136-136)Last Fight: 6/21/2014- UD12 #15 Max BursakNext Fight: UnknownMurray wants Cotto, in what would be his second shot at the lineal Championship. I thought he won the first one pretty clearly, and I’d favor him in this one.7) Peter Quillin (3-90-111)Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownThe WBO has ordered Quillin-Korobov.8) Matthew Macklin (5-159-250)Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)Next Fight: 8/30/2014- vs. Unknown OpponentMacklin is back on August 30 in Dublin.9) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (5-30-30)Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownWith the first 3 of the first 4 guys offered the shot having turned it down already, the 4th- Curtis Stevens- is now in talks for an IBF eliminator with N’Dam. The winner would earn a shot at Soliman’s belt.10) Sergio Mora (5-54-54)Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO5 Samuel Rogers (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownMora wants Quillin or Golovkin.11) Osumanu Adama (5-23)Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady GolovkinNext Fight: UnknownNot the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.12) Dmitry Chudinov (5-15)Last Fight: 6/1/2014- UD12 Patrick Nielsen (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownChudinov’s promoter has verbally offered Sam Soliman a fight on August 8.13) Marco Antonio Rubio (5-180)Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)Next Fight:UnknownRubio wants a shot at Cotto.14) Matt Korobov (2-2)Last Fight: 6/28/2014- UD10 Jose Uzcategui (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownSee Quillin’s notes, above.15) Jarrod Fletcher (2-23)Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max BursakNext Fight: 8/9/2014- vs. Daniel Jacobs (UNR)Fletcher will fight fringe contender Daniel Jacobs on August 9 for a trumped up (aka WBA) title.16) Max Bursak (2-180)Last Fight: 6/21/2014- L (UD12) vs. #7 Martin MurrayNext Fight: UnknownMonte Carlo isn’t kind to Bursak. He lost a debatable decision to Jarrod Fletcher there, and then was more or less dominated by Martin Murray.17) David Lemieux (2-7)Last Fight: 5/24/2014- KO3 Fernando Guerrero (UNR)Next Fight: UnknownLemieux’s eye-popping domination of Guerrero has fueled idle speculation of a potential shot at Peter Quillin, who is short on options for high-level opponents due to the ongoing Showtime-HBO feud. In the meantime, he’s reportedly turned down an eliminator with Sturm.18) Caleb Truax (5-42)Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR)Truax has a new opponent for 7/25, with a slight downgrade to Derek Ennis.19) Curtis Stevens (5-49)Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)Next Fight: UnknownStevens will likely fight N’Dam for a shot at Soliman’s alphabet belt.20) Andrey Meryasev (5-35)Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)Next Fight: UnknownMeryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.

The Week Ahead: Saturday#1 JMW Saul Alvarez vs. #3 JMW Erislandy Lara; Las Vegas, Nevada; Showtime PPV (US)This is basically a junior middleweight fight, but will be contested, for no apparent reason, at a 155 pound catchweight. I’ll mostly consider it at 154, but it could come into play here, as well.